This invention relates to easel type ring binders also called "easel-back" binders which comprise more or less conventional loose leaf ring binders having movable support members which may be oriented to enable an "open" binder to be supported on a work surface, such as a desk, in an upstanding position suitable for convenient hands-off viewing. An important consideration is to provide a binder of this type which is constructed so that the support member, when not in use, may be compactly and inconspicuously housed so as not to interfere with the customary use of the ring binder and which can be easily and reliably employed to perform its easel support function.
Ring binders of the easel type have been known in the prior art and the following U.S. patents disclose such binders: U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,451,694; 2,778,153; 3,135,532, and 3,334,920.
In the earliest of these prior patents, a rod-like easel support member is pivotably mounted on hinge eyes affixed adjacent the upper end of the ring binder metal. The easel support member is concavely curved for a flush-fit against the curved back panel of the binder whereby the support is undesirably disposed externally of the binder.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,778,153, another pivotable easel type support is shown which is adapted to be urged by coil spring 23 against the outer surface of the back panel of the binder when it is not being used for its support function.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,135,532, another easel type support is shown which is adapted to be compactly housed within the binder, except for its prong portions 19. In order to utilize the support member, it must first be fully removed from the housing, reversed end-to-end and its prong-end connected to the fitting disposed on the upper end of the binder.
The principal object of this invention is to provide a binder having an easel type support of improved construction in which the easel support member is partially retracted telescopically from its housed position within the binder and its outer portion hingedly swung to a binder support orientation.
Another object of this invention is to provide an easel type binder of the above type in which the easel support member is of generally flat or planar overall construction for compact and inconspicuous storage within the binder.
A further object of this invention is to provide an easel type binder of the above type in which the support member has inner and outer end portions which are hinged together to enable the outer portion to be swung to-and-from its coplanar orientation within the binder to-and-from an acute angular orientation for easel type binder support.